Our lease will be due in a few years; I think we’ll end up saving up and buying a used car, see how our luck goes!

Check out some testimonials at http://www.odesk.com/w/testimonials#freelancers

Good luck!

Orie

- the increase in the cost of gas is largely related the weak dollar. The weak dollar is blamed on the administrations economic policies that have created increasingly large trade deficits to pay for the Iraq war and reduce taxes on the ultra-wealthy.
- the administrations international policies have destabilized many oil producing countries, including Venezuela, Iraq, Iran and Russia.
- energy policies havent done enough to creative alternate energy sources. At the same time energy policies have called for stockpiling considerably more oil in US reserves than ever before (which is a notable change in energy policy and directly elevates prices by increasing demand)

I think to the degree that all you really need the FICO score for is to get into more debt (get a loan), it really is an I love debt score.. I don’t think credit cards are the evil to the degree that Ramsey does, but I understand why he is so anti-debt. So many people in this country DON”T use debt responsibly, and because of that just having that credit card temptation laying around is not a good idea.

At our house we don’t have any debt, and we still have one rewards credit card that we use for larger purchases, but only when we have the cash on hand to pay it off within a few days. That way we get the cash rewards, but we don’t really keep a balance.

For example, you talk about using debt to your advantage through car loans, credit cards and so forth. I think for someone who is good at managing money that can be somewhat true, however, it assumes that you’re disciplined enough to follow through on that plan to make money. Most people aren’t that disciplined.

I think ramsey just highlights a lot of the thinking that gets people into trouble in the first place, and moves people down the path of responsibility, saving and wealth.

Vis a vis the market crash, I advise that is one were considering part of their account as emergency funds then they need to allocate accordingly. That portion of the 401(k) should be in the short term bond fund, for safety and lower volatility.

Again, I appreciate your taking the time to read my blog.
Joe

Agreed that the Ramsey crowd believes this is idiotic.. the way I look at it, if you’re not going to get yourself into more debt, you might as well get the lowest interest rate you possibly can!

That would indeed be a good idea.. I should investigate and see what rate the 401k loans come out at, and what the required payments are. Certainly worth looking into!!

We’ve already stopped building debt — everything is cash now, or plastic that is required to be paid at the end of the month (for online purchases; see previous posts for my reasoning why.) Hard to do, but worth it!

I think not having debt is good, but it also means you’re afraid to take risks.

There are people that had debt in the past and paid it off to reflect a nice FICO

It does not mean you love debt, It just means you borrowed money and paid your obligations

http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/31/dmp-worth-it/

For an update on my DMP decision.

It is certainly possible to get a 12% return over time (if your retirement doesn’t average 12% over the years, ouch!), but if your investment isn’t spread over enough time to handle the market fluctuations (ie, right now!), you’re going to be in trouble!

The whole thing about getting a 12% return on my money in such a short time was a bit of a stretch for me too - i’m still waiting for the part of financial peace university where they tell you what investment exactly he thinks you should use to get that kind of a return..

Even if you don’t buy into all his assumptions, his idea of saving up for big purchases is still sound I think. I think we’re going to try this system and see if it works for us.. We’ve had good luck with used cars - I’ve got a 7 year old chevy with no real repair costs yet- and my wife has a 6 year old honda with no repair costs yet. No payments either since they’re both paid off.. So we’re starting his system with our current cars, and saving up for a couple of years..

We’ll see!

Allen Taylor

Tim Ramsey